Re: The counting frog.

Hi Bobby,

Thanks for posting the puzzle - I really enjoyed the challenge.

It kept me busy for longer than it should because of my fumbling around, but if I'd got it right first pop I would have missed out on debugging it, which was also quite enjoyable. It appears, though, that the frog enjoyed debugging even more that I did...but at least I'm still alive to tell the tale!

Of course, I may not be using that same adjective to describe my feelings about the puzzle if I were up to my 100th wrong answer!

Last edited by phrontister (2014-03-25 22:47:21)

"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

Re: The counting frog.

I did a similar problem at Brilliant around 7-8 months ago.

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''But our love is like the wind. I can't see it but I can feel it.' -A Walk to remember

Re: The counting frog.

Re: The counting frog.

Why do you need that?

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''But our love is like the wind. I can't see it but I can feel it.' -A Walk to remember

Re: The counting frog.

Re: The counting frog.

BASIC is the first and only programming language I've learnt...mainly on an old hand-held Sharp PC1500A Pocket Computer. Later I got the free JustBASIC software for my PC, liked it and then upgraded to the paid-for LibertyBASIC version, which I like to use for some puzzles here on MIF and others I find elsewhere from time to time.

One day I might try something else, like Python, which I downloaded and installed but never got even mildly serious about starting to learn it (not enough hours in a day).

"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

Re: The counting frog.

True, but I hadn't considered M as a programming language.

Although I had thought about using M I let that pass as I couldn't see past doing a simulation and didn't know how to use M for that. Anyway, I'm happy with the spreadsheet simulation I did in Excel...the visual display helped to quickly iron out the various logic errors I'd made (which I suppose I could have done in M too if I knew it better).

"The good news about computers is that they do what you tell them to do. The bad news is that they do what you tell them to do." - Ted Nelson

Re: The counting frog.

But it's primary use is as a computational package/CAS, so many people fall under the assumption that it's not a full-fledged programming language (even though it's more powerful then most languages which support only procedural programming).

phrontister, have you tried Run BASIC? It's a dialect of BASIC created by Carl Grundel (the creator of Just and Liberty BASIC) which allows you to develop web pages.

Re: The counting frog.

Hi ShivamS;

Mathematics is a language too. While other programming languages only have a smattering of math capabilities, M has tons of it. The other languages give programmers the false idea that math is separate from programming. After all, where is the math in a for next loop? M puts you back on the right track, they are connected.

In mathematics, you don't understand things. You just get used to them.

Re: The counting frog.

Hi bobbym

Haven't checked the answers on previous pages yet, but I have come up with some sort of .

Here lies the reader who will never open this book. He is forever dead.Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most. ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and PunishmentThe knowledge of some things as a function of age is a delta function.

Re: The counting frog.

That is wrong, as far as I know. (unless you are using some other base than most humans do)

'And fun? If maths is fun, then getting a tooth extraction is fun. A viral infection is fun. Rabies shots are fun.''God exists because Mathematics is consistent, and the devil exists because we cannot prove it''But our love is like the wind. I can't see it but I can feel it.' -A Walk to remember